


Ash'amur

by Paragosm



Series: Aay'han [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Afterlife visiting, And they'll try so hard to reason this away, Angst, Autistic Tech, Body Swap, But not at all like you're probably thinking, Clonecest if you see it that way best bros if not, Clones are Slaves, Clones crying, Clones don't know how to function outside of war, Clones have dubious morals, Clones mourning, Copious Use of Mando'a, Fevers, Fighting, Force Sensitive Kids, Gen, Graphic Descriptions of Injuries, Hopefully you crying, Hurt/Comfort, Hyperactivity Disorder Hardcase, I'm still sorry Tech, Making robot friends, No beta we die like mne, PTSD Party, Sickfic in a way, Storms, Teaching kids to fight, Trans Clones, Trans clones are a thing and you can fight me on that, Very Background Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, clone culture, it hurts, me crying, proto-inquisitor OC, storms are scary, touch starved crosshair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-06-26
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 17,666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24369862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paragosm/pseuds/Paragosm
Summary: ash'amur - to die, specifically violently in battle.While off-planet to trade along with their host and self-proclaimed adoptive mother, a droid leads Echo to a discovery that will change the course of events in the pool of time from now on.
Relationships: Ambiguous Relationship - Relationship, CT-5597 | Jesse/CT-6116 | Kix, CT-5597 | Jesse|CT-6116 | Kix
Series: Aay'han [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1731409
Comments: 16
Kudos: 22





	1. Another Discovery

The Bad Batch strapped the crates of small luxuries to the speeder bikes as Áidná watched them, munching on a caf flavored candy that she had bought for herself after trading the arachbou pelts on Keskusta, Ruovttas’ sister planet, the most populated planet in the system, and a frigid mining world. 

Echo had been rapidly gaining weight and muscular tone, and by this point he almost looked like an ordinary clone trooper again. His brothers teased him for this, but he knew they were relieved to see him getting healthy. Crosshair had tossed one of his small wooden stakes at him and said something snidely about him looking like a reg, but had asked Áidná that same night to put a double portion of food on Echo’s plate. 

He watched Tech squabble with Wrecker over how the bikes should be upgraded, something Áidná had strongly discouraged at first but as Tech proved himself to be a capable mechanic and engineer, she had given them some slack in the last few months. 

Hunter stalked over, breathing a frozen cloud in the frosty air. “The crates are secured, Áidná. We’re ready to depart.” Áidná nodded and smiled, hauling herself off the wall she’d been settled on with a groan. “Ai, give an old woman a moment, would you? My back is sore.” Hunter nodded once, then went back to watching the others. 

Echo had not been heading towards the bike he’d claimed as his own for three seconds when something hard and metal rammed into his legs from behind him. “The haran-” He spun on his heels, already drawing his pistol. A small blue -“ _ 501st blue” he thought _ \- and white astromech had bumped into him. It extended it’s arms and put them on its sides like they were hands on its hips, beeping something out in binary and waggling an arm at him. 

He knelt down, putting the weapon back. “Well, hey there. Who are you?” He paused to allow for the bleeps and bloops. “R3-Z332 eh? Hi then, RZ, what do you want?” It spun in circles rapidly, then pointed between him and the electric blanket it held up, probably stolen he realized when he saw the symbol for one of the main mining companies on the planet. 

Tech approached silently, then knelt next to Echo. “I believe she wants us to follow her.” He says after observing the behavior for a few moments. Echo only slightly jumps, becoming used to his vode’s sudden appearances and out of nowhere voices. Echo looks back at him. “Why?” Tech shrugs. “All I could understand was something very quickly said about how she has found another fleshy child and she wants the new one to follow her to the old one.” RZ beeped her affirmation to this, and Tech gestured for Crosshair. 

He made his way over. “Oh joy, an astromech. Is it our new pet?” He’s chewing violently on one of the stakes, arms crossed and his rifle slung over his back while he wears select pieces of his armor. Tech shakes his head. “No. Follow her to watch Echo, I must return to aiding Ädnee with the last of the preparations.” Tech proceeded to walk off while eying something on his datapad. 

Crosshair puts a hand on Echo’s shoulder. “Lead the way, reg.” “I planned on it, defect.” He said, pulling the hand off to try and pull the taller clone to him in an attempt to initiate a keldabe, but Crosshair yanks away. “You know I don’t like touch, reg.” “And I know you’re a vod who has no problems with it besides the emotional attachment it brings, so you're lying.” The two stared each other down for a minute, before Crosshair smirks and flicks Echo between the eyes. “You act like you know what you’re talking about. It’s kinda cute, like an anooba doing a trick.” 

Echo rolls his eyes, sighing dramatically as he resigns himself to yet another failed attempt before following after RZ. She occasionally stops to look behind her as they leave the city and enter the ice meadows, making sure that they’re following her. 

They look around warily once they get to the hollow she wants them at, before Echo sees the downed Republic ship. He recognizes the name painted on the side: the Escape Bucket, one of the ships a few of the excited shinies from Green Light Squad, Ca and Insect, the twin sister and brother proud of their piloting positions, had shown off to him while watching him in awe like he was a living legend. Crosshair stared at it, then RZ, then Echo. “Why are you choosing now to practice your statue impersonations?” Echo shook his head, then started down the hill, sliding on his lower body. 

Crosshair sighed and jumped off the side of the hill, using a few branches to flip his way down. Once he got to the bottom, Echo jokingly glared at him. “Show off.” “I know. What’s going on with this partial wreck that has you so interested, reg?” Echo runs his hands over the cockpit rim. 

“Some shinies in the 501st showed me this. It belonged to two of them, the pilots, obviously. It’s called the Escape Bucket.” “I can read.” “Really? I didn’t know.” Echo murmurs, then nearly falls as RZ slams into his legs and gestures wildly towards a small ice cave. 

Echo can see tools and parts laying around, signs of an individual having been active in the area a while ago, and that they had tried to repair the ship. He followed RZ to the cave, and his heart sank as he saw a pair of frosted over DC-17s. He ducked his head in. The whites of Rex’s eyes and his murmuring, barely moving lips greeted him, shivering even under a large number of blankets and pelts, sweating with the fever he was plagued with. 

Echo lets out a choked cry and falls back, then asks the astromech that had seemingly been caring for the blond vod for confirmation. “RZ, is that the Captain?” The single affirmative bloop was all Echo needed, and he pulled Rex out from the cave, wrapping him in his coat and one of the pelts. Crosshair raised an eyebrow. “Who..?” “Rex.” He replied quickly, then started making his way back after gathering all the potentially important things he found. 

Crosshair prowled after him, becoming a bodyguard. Echo examined Rex as best as he could from the angle he was at. He had a scar on his head that matched the ones on the temples of the Bad Batch, and he breathed out a sigh of relief when he realized they wouldn’t have to deal with any more heartbreakingly mindless drones of vode for now. 

They got back to the ship at a decidedly slow pace, but Hunter ran down the ramp along with Áidná as soon as they saw them approach. Hunter recognized the torn kamas the loyal leader of the 501st had about his waist and took him from Echo, lips curling into a slight snarl as he smelled the odor of infection and fever around him. 

“Where did you find him?” “In an ice cave nearby his wrecked ship. RZ here must have been watching over him.” Áidná looks over Rex once they are inside the Pieokkan, examining him, well practiced by now how the armor works and getting it off of him with relative ease. “He has a cut on his thigh, it seems something came dangerously close to slashing his artery, and while the droid prevented him from bleeding out, it still became infected.” She explained, holding out the pauldron she’d removed to Tech, who took it. Crosshair threw a small orange box at Tech, who caught it too. “Oh, thank shabla, you found it! This’ll be a valuable information mine!” 

Wrecker eyed it. “What’s ‘at?” Tech held it up after placing it inside the ARC pauldron. “It’s a flight recorder, a flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents.” Tech rattled off in the tone that implied he was reciting the information from some official source from memory. “Flight recorders are also known by the misnomer black box—they are in fact bright orange to aid in their recovery after accidents, as you can see here.” He holds it up. 

He continues with his ramble, with only Echo paying real attention to him by this point. ”There are two different flight recorder devices: the flight data recorder preserves the recent history of the flight through the recording of dozens of parameters collected several times per second.” Wrecker cuts in. “So it’s a fancy holocam?” “Well, no, it’s a bit more complicated than  _ that _ . You see, it functions by-” His throat was clearly beginning to suffer by it’s slightly raspy tone, so Crosshair interjected flatly. “We get it, now hush.” Tech huffed indignantly, and turned his back on the others as he pushed his goggles up and began to decrypt the device with his datapad. 

Echo put a hand on his shoulder. Áidná began treating Rex, seeming to take great care with Echo’s ori’vod, placing a cool damp cloth on his forehead as Hunter took over the flight controls and started guiding them back to Ruovttas and their home. 

When Seavdnjat.and Čuovga appeared in the skies of the planet to watch over them, Hunter gave a rude gesture at the twisted clouds, the setting down slightly rough because of a sudden gust of wind and flare of red. Áidná glared at Hunter when Rex was shook during the landing, and he only muttered something about how the getting off on the wrong foot was not about to be solved now. 

Echo sighed, eying the occurrences. Wrecker and Tech would go into town later to sell the luxuries they’d bought, but for now, they were working together to take Rex into the home. He followed, heavy prosthetic legs leaving footprints deep in the snow, as they entered the home and took him to the large bed in the room that the Bad Batch had claimed for themselves. 

Áidná went into the room, and as she always did when she walked in, shook her head and began picking up the very few objects off the floor while Tech got Rex settled. The wall between this room and the next had been taken down, with her permission, and they’d pushed another bed in for the nights one or two of them didn’t feel like piling onto one bed. Tech had salvaged a large desk from a junk heap outside of town, and converted it into his work station, while several large frames helf the armor, blacks, and other weapons when they weren’t in use, but they often were used as Áidná got more used to them. 

She often claimed that they were just as bad as her sons had been, except that they had left toys and clothes out, not weapons and armor, whereas every time she said this they were halfway through checks and cleanings, not seeming to realize how pristine everything was normally. 

Hunter left the room, nudging Wrecker, and the two of them left to go to town. Crosshair went to perch in a tree outside, thinking and protecting the home, and also likely escaping being picked for medic duty. Áidná cast her glance at Echo. “Could you go get some cold rags, the willow bark tea, and the anti-infection medication from the cabinet, Ech’ika?” He nods, and walks out. 

While he fetched the needed items, Tech stiffened and became more alert instantly, eyes flicking around as he kept a large amount of space between himself and Áidná now they were alone in the same confined space. She observed his behavior. “Tech, why are you so nervous around me when your brothers aren’t here?” She sat on the bed and put Rex’s head on her lap, gently running her hand through the ragged blond hair. 

Tech looked up from his datapad. “I don't quite understand what you are talking about. This is my average behavior.” He meets her eyes, practiced in the art of deflecting, but Áidná knows better, and raises an eyebrow. “You’re going to have to try harder then that to convince me.” “I have no intentions of doing such a thing.” He says, edging his way closer to the door by the second. 

Echo comes back just as he darts out, citing the necessity of selling the crates of goods they’d picked up. Áidná meets Echo’s eyes as she takes the things he’d fetched for her out of his hands. “Why doesn’t Tech feel at ease alone around me?” Echo flinches, remembering what Hunter had told him a few weeks ago. “Well, ma’am….he has problems around women, especially middle-aged ones.” “What sort of problems?” She asks, concerned. “The kind that happens when a trainer takes advantage of a clueless, young vod.” He replies, taking the tea back and going over to the bed, slowly dropping it into the armored, dehydrated Captain’s -or Commander, he realized quickly by the small rank badge- mouth. 

Even in his fevered state he swallowed instinctively, making Echo’s task far easier, as he murmurs to him. “Hey now, why’d you have to go and get so sick, eh, Commander? You’re going to give us all heart attacks. When were you going to tell us about that promotion anyway, ori’vod?” 

Rex didn’t respond except for a small groan in his sleep, tossing his head. Echo continued to speak to him, trying to ground him and bring him back to the surface of consciousness if possible as Áidná treated the wound on his thigh. “You better have a good explanation for all of this sir, and you better thank that droid when you wake up. She saved your life, you know, Commander.” 

This quiet murmur of words extended into the night, after Áidná had gone to bed and Wrecker had made dinner for the others, and the Bad Batch slowly filed into the room one by one. Tech came first, and curled up on his customary spot at the foot of the bed, blacks clinging to his skin as he tucked his head under an arm, feeling safest when coiled in such a way none of his front was exposed, hand clenched around the vibroblade under the nearby pillow. 

Echo had pushed himself up against Rex, snuggling close, forcing his leg to remain level as he settled into the deep breathing exercises he’d been taught and watched the others come in for the night. Hunter trod in, and stood near the door, waiting for the others to arrive before he settled down on the bed. 

Wrecker and Crosshair followed on each other’s heels, wrestling playfully but tiredly, the sniper holding the credits they’d earned from selling the goods in town above his head proudly, face painted with a smirk as he tucked the miniature golden bars into small cracks and crevices around the room. Wrecker collapsed on the spare bed, soon falling asleep flat on his back and snoring loudly. 

Crosshair perched on his chest, sitting up as he clutched his rifle to himself and drifted off, used to sitting up as he slept. Hunter pressed himself along Wrecker’s side, an eye remaining an opened slit as he drifted off too.

Echo’s eyes closed tightly once he got used to the irregular pace of Rex’s breathing, and he went off to a restless state of drifting between awake and asleep. 

**************************************** 

The next morning, everyone woke to the screams and cries of the blond Commander, who shot out of bed, limping, hands splayed out as he tries to make his way around the room, feverishly yelling. “GET AWAY, YOU’RE ALL DEAD, GET AWAY!!” 

Echo steps close to him, walking slowly and deliberately, biting his lip as he remembers the last recording of a brother acting like this he saw. “Ori’vod, we aren’t dead-” “BACK AWAY!” Rex leaps towards the door, almost getting there even in his weakened state as a rush of adrenaline hits him, but drops to the ground when a shot rings out and a mild stun blast hits him, the blue causing his limbs to temporarily lock up. 

Crosshair gets closer and kneels next to him. “Hush, Commander. Or Kix will have a fit.” The mere mention of the infamous 501st chief medical officer caused Rex to go completely still and quiet. After a few moments though, he began his feverish ramblings anew. “Dead….he’s dead….all dead….Fives, should’ve listened to Fives….Cody…Cody….” HIs eyes rolled back in his head, showing the whites, tinged pink from swollen blood vessels. 

Tech settles next to him, recording his rambles and checking his temperature. “It’s lower than last night, forty degrees. An improvement from the previous temperature of forty one point six, so he’s currently safe from hyperpyrexia settling in, however he’s not, to borrow a phrase, out of the woods yet.” He pushes up his goggles, typing something into the datapad he held. 

Rex slowly regained muscular control and lashed out weakly, barely catching Tech across the face and causing his goggles to go flying across the room. Tech blinked rapidly as he adjusted his eyesight as much as he possibly could without the lenses in the goggles helping correct his slight vision problems. 

Hunter sighed, walked over, then picked up Rex by the back of his blacks. He slung him over his shoulder as he went into the main room, where he had smelled some sort of frying meat, which he figured was no doubt Áidná working on breakfast. Once there, he deposits him on a couch. “Áidná, the Commander is up but still feverish and hallucinating.” 

“Oh, I see. Well, give him more of the anti-infection sticks while I make some willow bark tea and gruel for him, please, Hunter.” She says, looking over her shoulder at him from where she’s standing at the stove. He nods and goes to do so, jumping on top of the food preserver to reach to the top of the cabinets where she keeps the medicines and herbs. She shakes her head with a chuckle, having long given up on the long battle of the Bad Batch sitting places they shouldn’t, reaching things by jumping up or working out complicated solutions, and generally not knowing how things should be used or done. 

Tech strode in, head practically in his datapad, Wrecker following after, holding his goggles over his head and laughing. The young clone’s left eye twitches, continuing with the task in his hands. “Wrecker, could you please give me those back?” He finally asks, voice seeming strained and body language clearly communicating his annoyance. “You know I need those to see.” 

Wrecker laughs more. “Come and get ‘em, tiny, you can still see well enough to grab ‘em!” “Those aren’t toys, you overgrown annoyance of a meat shield!” He hisses, and spins on his heel, throwing the datapad at Crosshair who instinctually catches it and leans back on the wall, chewing one of his stakes and watching the show. Wrecker shrugs. “I ain’t gonna break ‘em, tiny.” “And if you hand them over” Tech says, his body tensed to strike “I won’t break your nose.” “You can’t reach my nose.” “You’ve sunk low enough for me to reach.” He growls, then backs up, hits a couch, turns around, walks to a wall, runs up to the couch, using the back of it and his momentum to launch himself at Wrecker at a high speed. 

The two of them fight for a bit, throwing jabs and kicks and Tech trying to bite him, before Hunter breaks them up. “Wrecker, hand Tech his goggles. Tech, leave Wrecker alone, you know he was just playing.” Wrecker hands them to him, mumbling an apology. Tech puts them on and straightens up his form, brushing back the hair that has been slowly growing out. “No harm done.” 

Echo stands next to Crosshair and steals one of his stakes. “So, what happened?” he asks, chewing on it. Crosshair snorts and takes it back from him. “Mine, reg. And Wrecker tried to play keep-away with Tech’s corrective eyewear. Tech didn’t like this one bit.” “Ah, I see. And you can share those.” “You don’t even like chewing them.” “Yeah and you only do to wean yourself away from deathsticks, defect.” Echo teasingly nudges him in the side, only to get swung around and pinned against a wall. “Shut up and don’t touch me, reg.” Crosshair snarls, getting very close to Echo’s face. 

Wrecker wolf whistles in the background. Crosshair spins around again, stalks over to him slowly with a cruel grin on his face, and Wrecker starts running away from the sniper who seems deadly focused on getting his hands on the large clone, who frantically apologizes as he’s chased around couches and the table. 

Crosshair finally catches up to him and socks him hard in the side, teeth bared. “I’ll kill you, and I’ll do it slowly and painfully, if you do that ever again, understood?” He’s hopped on a table to be above him, and has his foot on one of his shoulders, lips curled up in a snarl. Wrecker raises his hands, favoring the side that now likely has a blooming bruise. “Ey, calm down now, Crosshair, I didn’t mean anything by it, I swear.” He reels backwards from the force of the kick just delivered to his face. “Good, I won’t have to waste weapons on you.” He says snidely. 

A few moments later, Wrecker bounds up beside Crosshair again. “Bet you can’t uproot all those trees Ädnee needs cleared as fast as I can!” “Oh, you’re on.” The sniper stands up and grabs his rifle, about to grab his rush outside, but Áidná steps in front of the door. “Breakfast, boys.” She crosses her arms, but has a warm smile on her face and a trace of laughter, but as Echo looks, also sorrow, in her eyes. “You can go do as many chores as you wish and play in the woods for as long as you like, but only once you get some food in your stomachs.” 

Hunter walked up as Wrecker whined. “Aww buuuut Áidná, we want to go do it nooooow.” “Food.” She insisted, not backing down. Hunter calmly put his hand on Wrecker’s shoulder. “Do as she says. You’ll have more energy to beat Crosshair with.” Crosshair sneers at the idea, but settles into a chair after a short staredown with Hunter, holding his rifle still, cleaning it and then his place at the table obsessively as he waits. 

Echo has settled on the couch beside Rex, and is now gently running his fingers through the blond hair of his old friend after moving his head to his lap, chuckling to himself at the uneven stubble on his face and the length of his hair, far longer than the close crop he’d always kept. “I thought this wasn’t very soldierlike,ori’vod, all this hair everywhere.” He says softly in a teasing tone, eyebrow raising when Rex groans and makes eye contact with him. 

“Kark..kark you t-too, vod’ika.” Rex manages to get out, throat hoarse from both lack of use and the screaming earlier. Despite his seemingly harsh words, he curls into Echo, seeking warmth and comfort from his brother. Echo hugs him to his body protectively, brushing his own hair out of eyes when some of it escapes the slicked back hold of the look. “Hey, ori’vod, hey, how are you?” He asks, feeling around his forehead, feeling his temperature. “L-like...osik.” Rex groans out, coughing a little. 

Hunter finds his way over to the couch after directing Tech to the table, his eyes already glued to his datapad and making recordings of the cooking food sounds. “Hello, Captain. Looks like you’ve had a rough time.” Rex looks up, and the twitch of a smile graces the edge of his lips when he identifies the tattooed mutated sergeant. “Hey...k-kark my throat...h-hey Sergeant Hunter. Oh, and it’s…” He pauses in a coughing fit ”Commander n-now.” Hunter sits on the couch and wordlessly hands him the gauntlets for his armor, all of which had been stripped off, placed in a corner with respect and care, and then cleaned pristinely by Crosshair when he saw exactly how grimy the plastoid had gotten. 

Echo began helping Rex put them on, Áidná looking over. “Why are you putting armor on a sick man?” She asks, carrying the cup of tea for Rex, adding some sort of flower honey when she hears his coughing and his hoarse voice. Rex shoots up at the unfamiliar voice, but proceeds to calm back down when Echo gives a quick gesture, the one meaning all clear. His limbs are shaking just from the short burst of exertion, and he doesn’t seem like he could even argue with Echo even if he’d wanted to. 

Hunter answers the question. “We gave him the gauntlets because the feel of the plastoid, especially when you’ve been so feverish and disoriented, is a comforting weight. It grounds us, all of us, even regs, haran, even the few commandos I got to speak with.” He raises an eyebrow, and crosses his arms, surprised but not protesting when Rex put his legs over his lap. “I thought we went over that already Áidná.” She sat down next to the couch, on eye level with the incapitated Commander. “Well, you have, I was just uncertain if that was the reason or not.” “It is.” Hunter replied simply, then inhaled deeply, smelling the scents of the tea, gagging slightly on the very present, heavy smell of infection that still lingered around Rex. 

She puts a hand against his forehead, then taps his chin gently. “Open up, please, Commander.” She asks softly, remembering his rank and using it until he gave permission to use his name. Rex weakly opens up his mouth when Echo gives the all clear signal again. She starts spooning in the tea when he does, waiting for him to swallow, his face twitching and coughs building in his throat when he does, the tea irritating the dry passage and causing him pain. The single soft whimper he gave was unheard by Áidná as she gently rubbed his throat, but Echo and Hunter looked between themselves, the former with a very concerned look on his face. 

“I think this is the weakest I’ve seen you since the whole Vil-93 debacle, Rex.” He states, rubbing his back when he swallows the last of the tea, his body beginning to shake from chills. Hunter raises an eyebrow. “VIl-93? The plague planet?” “Yeah, we were there with the 212th because we caught word that the Separatists were trying to develop a clone specific bioweapon with the strains of diseases on the planet. Turned out to be a rumor except for a small droid base, but most of the corps there caught something besides the rumor bug, including our esteemed Commander here.” He explains, eyes staring off as he remembers the short few weeks of hell. 

“The medics were stretched thin, and most of them were practically the walking dead by that point too, just like the patients they were treating. So those who didn’t get hit as hard, and the miraculous few who were immune to that particular strain of the virus that we’d gotten, helped them to the best of our ability.” He continues to look at Rex’s body as he talks, and runs a hand over where his rib cage was, not feelable without pressure because of the muscle mass the ARC Commander had on him. Áidná listened, both fascinated and horrified. ”Me and Fives learned a lot about first aid when there were so many who were fighting to breath with bloody holes opening up in their bodies. Thing is, it wasn’t too fatal, we only lost four vod and they’d already been weak from being injured severely.” Hunter nodded along, asking “What about the Jedi Generals?” 

Echo thinks. “General Kenobi had one of the worst cases. He had insisted on going into the thick of it to treat the sickest of his men with Force Healing. It, and he, worked until he dropped in a fit of coughing up blood.” Áidná nodded. “He sounds like a good man.” “He is.” Echo says, holding Rex’s head up when it droops, not because he’s sleeping but because he’s been physically exhausted. ‘Skywalker actually listened when Kix told him to isolate himself and to get the haran away from the medbay, so he escaped the worst of it. I think he had a cough, but I’m not quite certain. Ahsoka, the Commander and Skywalker’s Padawan at the time, was a togruta, a species that appears to have natural immunity to the disease, so she was in the thick of it, carrying supplies for the medics and their assistants, talking to those who could help, and getting some Combat Medic 101 from Kix, Coric, Bev, and the illustrious Pixie.” 

Tech appeared, having eaten all the food that he’s thrown onto his plate. “It seems the Commander received some valuable training out of her luck and your pain.” “Yeah, I guess she did. Good for everyone we didn’t have any more multiple shipswide plagues.” “Indeed. In fact, according to my calculations and if it’s the disease I believe it to be off of your description of it, it would’ve weakened your immune systems for a period of roughly six months, and if you or any of your company got something worse than a common cold you may have brought the whole battalion to its knees. A crippling blow to the Republic to have Skywalker’s men wiped out by a plague. Fortunately this did not occur.” Echo blinks a few times, and snorts. “Well...thanks for that cheery bit of news.” 

“Your tone suggests that statement was sarcasm, but it was not intended to be cheery, it was intended to be informative.” Tech says, digging into a pack he pulls out from under the couch. Áidná stares at him, and sighs. “Tech, why are you stashing things in my furniture?” Echo and Hunter hear something and the others do soon after, and Tech immediately answers both Áidná’s question and the one hanging in the air after the large crash. “I am not the only one stashing things, and it’s for security purposes as well as instinct. And that was a tree, most likely the first one Crosshair and Wrecker got to.” 

Hunter reaches into the pack and pulls out a packet of jerky as Tech grabs some electronic components. “This stuff is good.” He says as he throws the crushed bits into his mouth. Rex looks around. “So...what h-happened to all of you..?” He asks, sounding less like he’d eaten sandpaper for breakfast. “I intentionally crash landed on this planet after the fall of the Republic.” Tech says, perching on the caf table in the middle of the room and fiddling with the wires and plastoid shells in his hands. 

Rex notices the scar on his temple, and visibly eases up from the tension that had built at that statement. “So...I g-guess you all f-figured out...the chips?” “Affirmative, Commander. We also became felons on Kamino, Coruscant, and we were wanted by the Republic and the GAR on accounts of desertion, breaking and entering, stealing valuable information, accessing restricted files, and more.” Tech says, placing the components he’d assembled next to him, touching and checking over it. Rex starts letting out a cracked, rasping laugh. “I was w-wondering...wh-what the ac-actual haran...you all had done this time….when t-that popped up in the s-special r-report.” 

Hunter snorted, continuing to swallow down the food in his hands like he was starving, or like his stomach was a blackhole.”Yeah, that was our chip hunting expedition.” “To be precise, our investigation into the death of Echo’s batcher Fives and his brother Tup. We thought Echo was leading us on a wild bantha chase sparked by grief to begin with, honestly.” Echo kicked Tech playfully as best as he could from under Rex on a couch. “Oh, ye of little faith, Te’ika.” “I actually have no faith, as I believe nothing is supernatural and everything has a scientific explanation.” He says, pushing up his goggles and standing up. 

“We know.” Hunter says, mouth somewhat full of food. “Good, if you hadn’t heard me the times I’ve mentioned it before then I think you’d need your hearing checked.” He says, swinging himself onto the back of the couch and taking one of the pieces of jerky from his hand. Áidná shook her head at them. “I think I’m going to go do some chores, please just call if you need anything.“ Tech played a recording of himself saying “affirmative” as he chewed the mouthful of food he had, to Áidná’s shaking head and chuckle. 

Rex turned his head back to Echo’s chest. “Sitrep...Ech’ika.” “Everything is fine and we’re becoming close to the woman you just saw, ori’vod. Her name is Áidná Kauppi and she’s a spiritual leader for the local turn.” “That...isn’t really the b-best r-report, but acceptable for..now.” He murmurs, sitting up a little, and Echo tries to push him back down until it’s clear he was just trying to put his head on his shoulder, and once this is recognized he allows it. 

The loud crashes and cracks still sound from outside, coming rapidly and occasionally switching locations and intensity. It starts raining not too long after the crashes start slowing down, pouring from the sky in tumultuous downpours and pattering against the windows, roof and ground outside. 

A crack of thunder splits the sky and lightning cuts through it, an impressive display of nature’s force, but one that sounds much too close to mortars and shells exploding. Hunter, with his sensitive senses, has his hairs standing on end as the planet’s electronic field gets fried thanks to the storm and his ears are bleeding as the boom of thunder at a close range overloads them and he starts scratching at them. Echo doesn’t mind the storms, he never did, but he understands, and he comes as close to Hunter as possible, not touching so as to not overload him further. 

Rex starts breathing heavily, pushing his head into Echo’s chest, shaking slightly as he listened to the bangs and saw the flashes of light that scored the sky with strikes as if the sky was some wrathful god’s marker against the people of the galaxy. Echo comforts him, blocking out most of his hearing with a pillow, pressing their foreheads together, the blond clone still running far too hot because of the fever. 

Tech hesitantly climbs into the pile when at some point it migrates to the living room rug, a nest of the blankets and pillows built by Hunter quickly big enough to curl up in with them, not one of them enjoying any of this except the close camaraderie and comfort. Wrecker and Crosshair charge in the front door, soaked to the bone, and neither of them seem particularly stable, the storm having thrown the sniper and the strongman of the squad into a battle mindset, on edge and ready for anything, holding weapons with the stun off. 

Áidná comes down from the attic to see them, and backs up hurriedly when she briefly has a sniper rifle aiming directly between her eyes, but comes back when Crosshair lowers it, and slowly goes to stand next to the nest, before he’s dragged down into the warm embrace of the blankets, and he huffs when Hunter calmly lays himself over him. Wrecker joins the pile once he sets his weapon, a crossbar found out in the yard, down. 

The woman with slight wrinkles and creamy brown skin has seen this behavior before, but never in response to something like a storm, so she watched curiously as they all started to drift off, sitting on her armchair with her legs tucked under her, sipping some tea and reading a book, her montrals decorated with amulets and charms strung on dark leather thongs which were tied together in complex patterns. The royal blues and reds of her clothing were looking less bright in the low, warm light then they did in full sunlight. She made a few mental notes on the ones who’d found their way into her home, and her heart, as the last of them fell asleep. 

  
  


**********************************

_ Echo waded around the massive lake he’s fallen into upon closing his eyes, and he sputter s as something comes up behind him and shoves him back under. He spins underwater and pushes to the surface, tackling the legs of the perpetrator to the laughter of a decent crowd. He looks down at Fives, who instantly floated up when his body was pushed down but is laying on his back in the cool water.  _

_ “Nice to see you again, Ech’ika. Have you been having a nice long vacation?” He asks, standing up and shaking himself like a wet animal. Echo snorts loudly as he pulls himself onto the shore. “If dealing with Rex having a fatally hot fever and a storm big enough to put most of Kamino’s to shame is a nice vacation, then yes, yes I have, Fiv’ika.” He says, crossing his arms and refusing to take Fives’ hand when he tries to get him to pull him up onto the shore.  _

_ “Rex?! You’ve seen the Commander? He’s there?” Fives asks, starting to look around. Echo nods. “Alive, and with plenty of fight in him.” Fives punches the air above his head and grabs Echo by the shoulder and starts dragging him towards Last Stop, to Echo’s confusion.  _

_ They arrived in front of a smaller home, where Hardcase opened the door when Fives knocked soundly on it. He grinned and bowed. “Welcome to the madhouse.” He says, gesturing inside and moving away, Fives nodding and pulling Echo in with him. “So, Hard’ika, how are your batchers?” He asks after dragging him in, looking at him with a warm smile. _

_ “Clocks is practicing throwing the best haar’chak punch you’ve ever seen. It's so cool to watch him, all hyaa, hyaaa, hyaa!” He says enthusiastically and throws a few bunches to emphasize what he means. “Chains is helping out with some of the new cadets that wound up over here since she knows how to help the little ones, she’s so good with them, my vod is the absolute best, I swear it to you, Fiv’ika. Oh, Echo, hi!” He waves at Echo, then takes off for a small kitchen and when he comes back he gives him what looks like pebbles. _

_ "C’mon, Echo, eat ‘em!” He grins, jumping up and down on the balls of his feet. Echo blinks, and looks between the very rocklike appearance of whatever had just been given to him, Hardcase who had a very eager, expectant look on his face, and Fives, who had a grin the size of a moon on his face. He sighs, and pops one into his mouth reluctantly, expecting broken teeth. He’s pleasantly surprised when the taste of sweetened caf and something else hits his tongue, and he throws the rest of them in his mouth, chewing slowly as he savors the flavors of the candies.  _

_ “Good, eh?” Fives teases, nudging his side with an elbow, which once Echo swallows, earns him getting an arm around his neck and his hair mussed beyond simple repair as Five laughs and jokingly calls for mercy, Hardcase narrating the playful exchange like a sports announcer until Echo lets him go.  _

_ Once everyone has regained their composure as much as possible, which means not much at all, Hardcase starts cleaning around the room they’re in, Fives clearing his throat to get his attention back. “Hmm? OH, Fiv’ika, batchers, right, right!” He runs back over, throwing the furniture polish on a table, screeching to a stop and nearly slipping on the hardwood floors. “Well, the only other one here is Jesse and he’s uh...still not ok. He’s a wreck. Completely in shambles up here.” He twirls a finger around his temples.  _

_ Fives gives a sigh. “Still the whole, tried to kill our ori’vod and Ahsoka, I deserve to die, won’t understand that it wasn’t his fault thing?” Hardcase nods. “Yep. If Kix was here, he would’ve had sense slapped into him by now, but unfortunately he isn’t and none of his are his ner’vod. Vode, close vode, but none of us had that with either them, just the one for the other.” He says, perching on the table. “And we already checked all of the afterlife, and we checked the Void where we could, and there’s no way Kix is dead. So yay us.”  _

_ Fives nods. “Maybe Echo’s news will help him then.” “Oh, oh I hope it does, it’s breaking my heart to see my vod’ika like this.” He says, tone hopeful as he jumps off the table and heads into a side room. A crash is heard. “Don’t mind me, just doing house things!” He calls, poking his head back out of the room, a bucket on his head, then ducks back in. Fives and Echo look between each other and let out a sound halfway between a snort and a giggle, shaking their heads at the hyperactive younger clone before heading up the stairs to the room that’s marked with a republic cog.  _

_ Fives gestures for Echo to go ahead, and he sighs, shooting a look at him, then knocks gently. A broken mutter of “Come in” is heard, so he presses the button for the door and it slides open. His heart catches in his throat when he sees the completely crushed legs of the ARC, who’s pauldrons, the marks of pride and achievement almost a mockery in this moment, are still on his shoulders, which clearly were shattered on heavy impact with something. His neck hangs at an awkward angle,and when he looks closer it’s clear his neck was snapped, likely by the same impact that shattered his shoulders.  _

_ He quietly kneels in front of him. “E-Echo?” He asks, voice cracked. He nods. “Yeah, it’s me. I’m not dead though, just visiting. I’ve got some news about Rex.” Jesse cowers at the name, tearing up. “I..I t-tried to shoot him...I tried to  _ **_kill_ ** _ our Commander...our ori’vod….” Echo sits next to him, and shushes him softly. “It wasn’t your fault, Jess’ika, shh, calm down.” Jesse looks up, and makes eye contact, an eye with a burst vein red with blood.  _

_ "Rex is alive, vod’ika, he’s safe, shh. He’s staying with me and the Bad Batch in the far outer rim.” Jesse gasps, and tears up, smiling. “He..he survived…” “Yeah, he did. He’s got a fever and is a little worse for wear, but he’s alive.” Echo smiles, and places a gentle kiss on his forehead. “Now, you do your best to heal and let go for your brothers, ok? It’s what Rex would’ve wanted.” Jesse nods a little, and turns his head away from him, yawning, suddenly seeming tired. Echo gets up after placing a light hand on one of his shoulders, and then leaves the room, giving him some space and privacy.  _

_ Fives claps teasingly after he’s closed the door, and Echo snorts, giving a joking bow as he turns towards his brother. Fives chuckles and heads for the stairs, Echo tagging along. Hardcase is in the living room painting a wall, eyes narrowed in concentration as he adds details to the complex mural. Echo goes to say goodbye, but Fives shakes his head, and pulls him out the front door, closing it behind him.  _

_ “It’s best not to interrupt him when he’s in that headspace, Ech’ika. Now, I’d love to chat, but we still have vode pouring in by the dozen, and I’m needed at one of the entrance gates of the other realm or whatever you want to call life.” He hugs Echo tightly, and Echo returns that hug with a smile and a nod. “Go make me proud, vod’ika.” Fives snorts, rolls his eyes, and punches him lightly. “Yeah, sure, alright, let's go with that.” He says teasingly, as he runs off, vanishing into the distance within moments.  _

_ This turns out to be good timing, as Hunter’s voice breaks through into his mind, and he shoots awake.  _


	2. Quiet Pain

Rex stood up and walked for the first time in days, to Echo’s relief. Tech was eying the monitor that he’d assembled from scrap, watching for changes in his heart rate and temperature constantly. The small mechanical avian he made out of spare parts and components was now his constant companion, and they sat on the lean clone's shoulder as he absently reached up to scratch their chin. With the red, black and grey paint coated thin metal details and a skull like head, they matched the Bad Batch’s signature look perfectly. 

Eparavur, the name of the creature, was huge too, their tail stretching nearly to the back of Tech’s knees and their wings impressively wide when spread. They had teeth like razor blades in their beak, and everyone respected the newest member to the squad. Including Rex, who had made friends with the creature, and was holding out his arm for them to land on. Tech nodded at them and lifted his arm as if to throw off the creature he’d made.

As it took off, careful to avoid hitting anything in the house, Rex was smiling. “Hey, Ep’ika, who’s a good bird?” They preened themselves and then did the same for Rex after a few minutes as a response. The Commander chuckled, and slowly began his walk outside, Echo at his side. 

“Ori’vod, I’m glad to see you’re up and about, but maybe you could hold back on the weight lifting for now?” Echo says, gently punching his shoulder. “Epar’ika isn’t light.” “I know they aren’t, vod’ika, but I’ll be fine, I promise.” The blond clone says, hair and face shaved down impeccably again. “If you say so.” Echo smiles at him, even as he rolls his eyes. Rex smiles back, and puts an arm around the younger clone’s shoulder. The two were walking like that for several minutes when Crosshair dropped out of a tree in front of them, causing Rex to jump slightly but Echo just sighed. 

“So nice of you to drop in, Crosshair.” “I don’t think nice is the best adjective here.” The sniper shrugs, and flicks a stake at Rex, who knows by now he doesn’t mean anything by it in particular, but still bares his teeth at him. Echo sighs. 

“Could you please behave for five minutes, Crosshair?” He asks, but it only earns him a sneer. “I am behaving, reg.” “I’ll get Hunter, defect.” He crossed his arms, and stared him in the eye. Crosshair hastily muttered an apology and started walking off, his rifle slung over his shoulders and his footsteps silent as he walks through the trees and vanishes out of view. 

Rex watches him go, then looks up at Eparavur. “Do you have attack protocols?” The bird shakes their head, then sees something glistening a mile or two away and takes off in a flurry of hydraulics and metal sheets, soaring through the sky and circling so far ahead they’re barely a black spot against the bright blue atmosphere. 

Echo chuckles, then leads Rex to the barns. “So, you want to go for a ride, ori’vod?” He asks, leading out two female arachbou with their calves and then a pair of males with impressive antler racks. “Sure thing, but are we riding those?” “No, sir. We are, however” he hooks the males up to a trailer, which he loads the females and their calves into and then climbs onto the seat on top after securing them “Going to be pulled by them.” He gave the Commander a hand up, and he sat close to the younger clone. “I see. So, wanna tell me where we’re going?” “The closest town to Áidná’s home. It’s called Oarbbesája. The people are very friendly there, and have accepted us into the community.” 

Rex raises an eyebrow. “And how are our Clone Force 99 friends liking being de facto members of a nat community?” “It has actually been stranger for me than them. They worked with some freedom fighters on and off for several months, so they kind of are used to this sort of thing already.” Echo says, then flicks the reins, and the arachbou pair started off at a brisk pace. 

Rex nods. “So, what’s in town?” “Postal services, the trader’s market, a few homes, the townhall, the militia armory, that sort of thing. It’s not much, in the scheme of things.” Echo says, leaning back as the males pulling the cart took their heads back, knowing the path to town by heart and not needing guidance. “There’s a militia?” “Yeah, they formed it when the beginning of the war rolled around. They decided to be neutral in the conflict, and wanted to defend themselves against anyone who came, but I’ve heard no few young adults went to fight.” Rex shook his head. 

“I'm going to guess a lot of people got a reality check when that happened.” “Lek, they did. Some of them came back with war stories and scars, others came back in body bags, others ran for the hills at the first real battles they saw.” Echo says, then snorts. “The ones who have war stories listened to mine and the Batch’s. They realized pretty quickly that what they’d seen in light Outer Rim skirmishes was nothing.” He grins. “I bet you could set them straight on the real horrors of war.” 

Rex sighs and looks off into the distance. “I’m certain I could. I might, if they ask.” He runs a hand over his pauldron, brushing off some dirt. “This is cleaner than I think it’s been in years.” “That would be Crosshair. He’s obsessive about keeping things clean and neat.” “Crosshair cleans reg armor?” He asks in a disbelieving tone. “He cleans everyone’s armor, our room, the house, the weapons, clothes, and anything dirty.” Echo shakes his head, then presses his forehead to Rex’s. “He’s not as bad as he seems, I promise. It’s his defensive mechanism.” Rex presses back against Echo, and smiles a little. “I’ll take your word for it, vod’ika.” “Thanks.” He winks, and sits cross legged on the bench. 

Rex groans. “You’re going to be Fives now, aren’t you?” He says it jokingly, but a deep well of sorrow appears in his eyes when he says it, the scene of holding him as he choked out his last words almost reflected in the warm amber brown of the Commander’s eyes. “Nah, I could never live up to that, ori’vod.” He says softly, his own amber brown eyes welling up with tears. 

He studies his former commanding officer’s face. A small scar under his lip, barely visible. Another scar peeking out from the blacks neck. A freckle under his left ear and five on his neck. Slightly bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep. Bags under his eyes. The blond buzz and his slightly lighter toned eyelashes. Chapped, windburned lips. Echo examined every detail. 

Rex did the same to Echo. Black hair growing back. The remnants of the cords he was hooked to. A new spattering of freckles over his nose and cheeks. A far darker tan then the naturally tan skin tone of the clones, due to the time in the sun he’s had because of farm chores. Small bags under his eyes. His eyes had golden flecks in them that hadn’t been there before. Moist lips from his habit of constantly licking them. 

The two, and clones in general, could tell a lot from the minor changes and shifts in appearance in vod. A different haircut or a fresh tattoo or a new scar could tell a whole wordless story in itself. Speaking of which….Echo looked up and down Rex and noticed a small line of 501st blue peeking out from the collar of the blacks. “So, finally got marked up?” “I figured why not, after Umbara. Kix did it for me, he got pretty good at using the gun.” Echo smiles. 

“I remember when Popper did that handprint on my chest for me. Haar’chak Techno Union, peeling that skin off for a clean surface.” He says, tone angered slightly. Rex sits closer. “Yeah, I get it. I got symbols for the squads that had been wiped out, along with some other similar things.” He pulled off a glove, showing off a domino, a small handprint, and a five, all done in 501st blue ink on his hand. “There’s you two and your vod.” He smiles sadly at the patterns. 

Echo tears up a little, and puts an arm around Rex’s shoulder. “Those are good work, ori’vod. Kind of jealous now.” He murmurs into his ear, then notices the town going up and pulls away some, reaching for the reins as they enter under the sign with the name of the town on it. He guides the team of arachbou to the market. He waves at a group of children, who wave back excitedly and chase after him, pointing at Rex and chattering amongst themselves. 

Echo hops off the cart once there, and secures the pair to a post. The kids swarm him, jumping up and down, begging for a story and Forest Ädnee’s candies. Rex eyes the scene, before getting off cautiously. Suddenly, they seemingly abandoned Echo and circled around him. 

“Hei, hearrá!” One of the older ones said, the tall female with a complicated red and blue dress looking up to him. The rest followed suit, with a chorus of the same sentence, to Echo’s chuckles. “Um, Echo, what are they saying?” “We’re saying hello, sir.” The same female piped up. 

One younger male looked between him and Echo. “Eahki Echo, you have a twin brother?” He asks curiously, then runs to go get somebody before getting an answer. The female snorts. “That’s my little brother. His name is Feles, and I am Kearte. We’re the only children of our parents.” She rattles off her lineage, to Rex’s mild confusion and Echo’s snickers. “Our mother is Maarja Hannula and our father is Heandarak Hannula.” “Uh...nice, kid. “ He says, then he spies Feles dragging over a pair of identical males, down to the patterns on their faces, montrals, and lekku. 

“Here, Eahki Rede, Eahki Rikkar, look, twins like you!” The pair sigh. “I am sorry about him, he doesn’t exactly have any impulse control.” The slightly taller one says, crossing his arms. “Eh, it’s fine, Rikkar.” Echo says, picking up Feles as the other kids dug in the candy bag in the cart while Kearte continued to ramble about her family bloodline. 

“Feles, we aren’t twins. This is Rex, he’s my ori’vod and my former commanding officer. Do you remember what ori’vod means?” “Whoa, Rex is a cool name! Do you all have such cool names? Tech has the best name though.” The child pokes at Echo’s face. Rex speaks up. “Depends on what you define as cool. I commanded a vod who called himself Frog, but I also commanded a vod who called herself Firedrake.” “Firedrake?! Like a dragon?” He asks. “Yep. She got it when she had a run-in with some small fire breathing lizards that took over the barracks.” Rex chuckles, remembering the instance in his mind. 

“Still haven’t answered the question.” Rede says teasingly to Feles, flicking his nose. “Ugggghhh, fiiiiinneee, ori’vod means older brother, now can I keep talking to Eahki Rex? He’s awesome, I can tell.” “You met him a minute ago.” Rikkar jokes, already walking back to the general store he and his brother had been dragged from. “And?” He challenges, sticking out his tongue at them when they turn around, shaking with laughter. 

Rex eyes his behavior. “Wow, he’s a real shiny, isn’t he?” Echo nods. “He’s five, standard humanoid aging.” “I don’t know the last time I talked to any five year olds.” “I can hear you two, you know.” The dark skinned child said, sky blue eyes fixed on Rex’s armor. “You have weird armor.” Echo choked on his own saliva, and started shaking with held in laughter as Rex blinked, not surprised by a shiny nat not knowing what ARC armor was but certainly not expecting the boldness with which he’s said it. 

“It’s for ARC troopers. Echo here was one too, before getting his shebs blown up and caught.” He says, both pointedly and jokingly. “I didn’t see anyone else coming up with brilliant plans, so I’m sorry for panicking a little.” “You got blown up.” “I didn’t mean to.” Feles’ head swiveled as he looked between whoever was talking and the others. “How’d you get blown up, Eahki Echo? You still look pretty alive.” “I was trying to get to a shuttle during a osikstorm of a prison escape. It got me blown up when some clankers aimed a cannon right at me and the ship.” Echo simplified the story. 

Rex huffed. “And left Fives a wreck for days.” It was said sadly, and Echo nodded with a remorseful look. “I can imagine. Was he even able to eat?” “Not for three days. Coric ended up force feeding him that fourth day and giving him a piece of his mind as he did so.” “I figured it was something like that. I’m glad he found new vode in Tup, Jesse, Kix and them.” “So am I. Tup was a good impulse control for him, Jesse the horrific liar, Clocks the ticking suicidal time bomb, Chains the civvie puncher, and Kix the self-hating, reckless when it came to himself medic, not to mention the good they all did for each other and other vode.” 

Feles cleared his throat. “I’m here too.” “We know, Fel’ika.” Echo said, messing with the ties between his montrals. “Indeed we do.” Rex adds, running a hand over his pauldron then looking down at the kamas that he’s just repaired. He starts strutting up and down a small area, to Echo’s snickers. “Showing off, Commander Fancy Skirt?” “Hush, soldier, I’m trying to get it to do the thing it always did for Cody when he actually wore the haar’chak things.” “You’ll never be able to do the Grand Marshal Commander Cody Is Here And Oh Osik He’s Wearing His Kamas Run Walk.” He teases. “No one but Cody ever will.” “I will make them swish that way over my legs one day, I swear.” He puts his shoulder back further while Feles continues to just look confused. 

“Who’s Cody?” “My brother.” Rex answered. “And a dramatic son of a cloning vat.” Echo adds. “He got that from Kenobi.” Rex snorts. “Oh, did you know he trained with Tech for awhile?” “Really? I figured that was Hunter.” “Nah, he knows Hunter because of working with the Clone Force, or at least the beginnings of it, since early war. Tech trained with them before going to get specialized training, it was a whole ordeal.” “Ugghhhh, can we do something funner than gossip?” Feles asks, groaning. 

The two clones chuckle. “Like what, kid?” “Play ball, or…” here the child whispers “maybe wrestle or something.” Rex and Echo exchange a look. “Want us to teach you to throw a proper punch?” Echo asks, mischievously grinning. Feles nods excitedly. “Yeah, that sounds cool!” “Are you willing to get a little hurt?” Rex asks, crossing his arms and putting on his command face, looking around for a clear area out of the way. “Yes, hearrá!” THe child said, straightening up his back and putting a hand on his chest. Rex chuckles, and leads him out into a nearby field. 

Echo disappears for a few minutes and reappears with them, having taken the arachbou cows and their calves to Áidná’s marketman and second cousin to sell. “Now” Rex says, arms behind his back as he goes into a dirt patch and stamps his foot onto it to test the grip and depth “Fighting is a lot harder than it looks. A punch thrown just slightly wrong can lead to every bone in your hand shattered, shiny, so it’s important to learn how to fight effectively.” Feles nods. “Understood, hearrá.” “So you need to do exactly what the Commander says when he says it, Feles.” Echo says, sitting at the edge of the patch. 

The child nods, and Rex gestures. “How would you punch someone?” Feles pulls his hand back, and Rex stops him. “Already, you have incorrect form. Your thumb should be wrapped on top of your hand.” He says, and shows him his fist, curled correctly. “Your fist should be closed tight enough for your fingernails to leave marks on your hand until they get calloused too.” Feles nodded, and copied the form the military officer was showing him, seeming just as eager as any young shiny to learn how to fight. 

Rex stood next to him. “Use your middle and index fingers when you connect with your target, not your fourth finger and your little finger. If you land a punch with those you almost certainly will break your wrist.” Feles practiced swinging his fist into the air, making sure to connect with the imaginary target using those fingers, and looked up at Rex for approval. 

Rex’s breath caught slightly in his throat. That sincere, earnest look was last seen on the faces of some of the newest shinies, from the 501st and the 332nd, barely eight years old. They were being shipped out younger and younger, with less and less training as the war went on, and the nearly five hundred strong group knew how to shoot, but couldn’t throw a punch, or fight hand to hand at all, for osik, so he and Jesse had taken it upon themselves to teach them. Kix had volunteered to add experience training to the twenty new medics repertoires, along with any others he could drag in, teaching them not just how to fight without weapons, but how to fight while carrying injured vod and how to defend a position like a battlefield triage station. 

Captain Vaugn had been dragged in as well, younger then most of the other commanding officers in the 501st, and therefore they were used to wipe the floor by the resident ARCs. Rex shook his head as he remembered it all, and focused his attention back on Feles, but he felt a different sense wash over him. “Good job, Fel’ika, just try and keep your wrist straight.” Feles nodds, seemingly a little surprised by being dubbed with the nickname but still far more preoccupied with the task at hand. He looked so much like a shiny.....

“Get the Commander, Fel’ika, come on!” Echo yelled from the sidelines, punching his fist into the palm of his hand. “Give it to him, kid!” Rex held up his hand. “Not yet, vod’ika, hold on a minute.” He steps to the sidelines and takes off the armor, going down to his blacks, then coming back. “I’m not going to give the shiny an unfair fight first try.” Echo audibly chokes on his own spit. 

“Just like the fair fights you gave me, and Fives, and Jesse says you gave those new shinies, right?” He yells teasingly. Rex shoots daggers at him. “They should’ve known, and could take it. You took it. FIves just whined for the haran of it. Fel’ika” He runs a hand on the kid’s montrals and pats his cheek twice, the gesture recited from pure memory growing up “Is what, two and a half, to us?” “I’m fiiiivvveeee, Rex.” He whines. “And I’m thirteen, and Echo is twelve and a half. We age differently.” He says calmly. 

Feles blinks. “My big sister is older than you two. But, but you look like grown-ups?” He said, tone trailing off like a question. “We are, technically. Our growth was accelerated to fight in the war quicker.” Echo explains, crossing his arms. “Now, kick him in the shebs.” Feles nods, and uses what he’s been taught to try and throw a punch at Rex. He succeeds, but he draws back, leaving barely any power in it when it connects with his hip. 

“Good try, kid!” Echo says, then gets up. “But you’ve got to aim past him, or you’ll lose momentum, like this.” He pushes him out of the way, and his body twists like a whip, recoiling once he lands a solid jab to Rex’s ribs that leave him breathless. Feles makes a concerned noise. “Are you alright, Rex?” “I’m fine, vod’ika, just a little shocked.” He twisted his body away, then swept Echo’s feet out from under him with a solid kick. 

After helping him up, the two started circling each other, Feles watching in awe as they matched each other blow for blow, the fight ending when Rex threw Echo over his shoulder and landed on him, grinning. “And it still is just as effective as always.” “Kark you, ori’vod.” “Not right now.” Echo squawked, and punched him again. “Not in front of the kid, Commander, yeesh!” 

Rex let him up, then looked at Feles. “And that” he said, kneeling in front of him “Is one way a spar can go. In a real fight, you should be aiming to kill, though.” Feles flinched away a little, eyes widening. “Kill?!” “Not actually kill, unless the other person is trying to kill you.” Rex says, patting his cheek again. “Just try to get them knocked out as quickly as possible.” Feles nods understandingly, then looks up at him. 

“Can I try again, Rex?” “Of course, kiddo, give it your best shot.” 

  
**************************************

They went until sunset, Echo, Rex and Feles all covered in dirt, bruises, and scrapes. Rex had put his armor back on at some point, making it more challenging for the child once the easy swings on thinly protected flesh are boring him. The kid pulls them into the woods when the sky starts turning orange, red and pink, Echo reminded of the planet he and Fives had enjoyed so much. 

Feles showed them a tree with a ladder nailed to the side. “Go on up, I’ll be back in a minute.” He pulls a small dagger out from a sheath, and takes off into the woods, leaving Rex and Echo to share a glance, shrug, and climb up into the small wooden home. Two bunks were there, bigger than the ones given to the clones by far, a desk built into the side, and drawers lined the opposite wall. 

Macrobinoculars and plants rested on a shelf just inside a window, and the rug on the floor was strewn with cushions. “Nice little place they’ve got here. These nats treat their little ones pretty good.” Rex says, to Echo’s nod. “They value their next generation a lot, ori’vod.” “Guess that makes sense, somebody has to keep the species going.” Rex says, sitting cross legged on the floor. 

“Yeah, something like that.” Echo agrees, and then Feles pokes his head up into the room, and throws a branch of berries and the corpse of a small mammal in, along with a variety of herbs and a canteen of water. He immediately starts digging for a small pot and a heating pad. “Hey, Fel’ika.” Rex said, looking at the things he was gathering. “Are you going to make food?” He nodded. “Yes. Can you skin the leporid I found in Rede’s trap?” “Yeah, I can, kid.” Rex reaches out for it, and the five year old throws him the berry juice stained knife. 

He begins work on skinning it while Echo helps him prepare the food. “So, you know how to cook and such?” He asks. “Yep! We children are taught to survive off the land reaaaallllllyyyy young. Like, when we’re two.” “When we were two, we were in battle field stress simulators. It wasn’t overly pleasant the first few weeks, but you got used to it quickly.” Rex said absently, handing over the animal’s body and anything edible he’d pulled from its guts. 

Feles looks very concerned. “Two? Battle stress simulators? Why? That’s really little.” Rex shrugs. “We were created to be soldiers and were trained from birth to be soldiers.” Feles sat on his lap after starting the stew, Rex jumping a little, not used to somebody, anybody, being so bold. 

The child had only one word for him, eyes big, blue, sincere, concerned, and curious. “Why?” Echo answered. “Because the Republic needed soldiers to fight in their war against the Separatists.” “Why didn’t they get the people to fight? Why...clones?” “Because we weren’t as valuable as Republic citizens and we were trained from birth so there were less mistakes and time taken to train civvies.” “But….you are valuable, right? You’re people.” “Well, Rex is an ARC trained Captain, so he’s worth about two thousand credits. I’m an ARC, but I was a line trooper first, so I was bought by the Republic for about two hundred credits.” Feles’ eyes widened. 

“You were bought?! But...you’re people! Ädnee says people buying people is bad, it’s called slavery, and it means you don’t get paid when you work for the person who bought you.” Echo and Rex looked at each other. “Well” Rex said slowly “I was given a small salary. Thirty eight credits a month.” Feles made a face. “Ori’vod,” Rex smiled, both at being called that and it’s butchered pronunciation “my monthly allowance is more than that. And I’m a kid!” The smile fell. 

“How about you, Ech’ika?” Echo chokes a little at the diminutive, to Rex’s snickers, but answers anyway. “I uh….I didn’t get a salary. I wasn’t paid. Since I wasn’t a commanding officer.” Feles crossed his arms. “That’s stupid.” “Well, we had somewhere to sleep, and food to eat, and-” “And so do slaves.” He interrupted Rex with pursed lips. “What did the Separatists even do?” 

Echo thinks. “Well….they separated from the Republic. Blockaded some planets. Built battle droids illegally. Stuff like that.” Feles pouts more, and pours the stew into bowls. “So they didn’t do war stuff.” “That’s debatable-” “How did they even know you were gonna go to war anyway?” Feles cuts off Echo. 

It's silent. The two clones look at each other. They both know the answer, but neither want to admit they knew it. The strategy, the chips, the deaths, the lives, the timeline, it all made sense. “Because the Chancellor of the Republic wanted all the power for himself, so he had somebody he was in charge of stirring up trouble and causing the Separatists to separate.” Feles was quiet. 

“Is that what happened a few months ago?” He asks softly. “What do you mean?” “Well, the whole time the war has been going on, it hurts a lot here, plus I had weird dreams.” He pointed to his chest. “And a few months ago, it _really really_ hurt. A bunch of people like me died, and a bunch of people who felt kind of like me, and you” he points at the pair “died too.” 

Echo lets out a soft gasp. The kid is Force sensitive. Rex chokes, and then goes still, leaning into Echo’s shoulder, then begins sobbing, sobbing like Echo has never seen his ori’vod cry before, and it’s messy. Tears stream out of his eyes, wetting his facial features, twisted with emotional agony, and mucus drips from his nose. The clones were always trained not to cry. It was a sign of weakness. Those who did, learned to do it silently. Feles hugged the two of them. 

“They were your brothers, weren’t they?” He asks quietly. It’s all Echo can do to nod, before he holds his new vod’ika tightly, pressing his forehead to his in a keldabe, before pulling the two to a bunk and curling up, food forgotten as they fell asleep. 

  
  


**************************************

_Echo wakes up in the afterlife again. This time, this time it feels different. It’s somber, an air of sadness over the entirety of the endless fields. Fives appears behind him. “Hello, vod.” He says quietly. Echo looks around. “What happened? What’s going on?” Fives gestures behind him. “I’ll show you.”_

_They walk. And walk. And walk. Finally they make it. It’s a pyre. Nothing but wood is burned on it, but the intention is the same, as Echo sees several cadets, crying in pain, too young to talk. Fives looks at him, sorrow haunting his eyes. “They will likely never heal.” That simple sentence was enough for Echo to understand the blanket of grief._

_A noise of shock comes from behind them. “A nat shiny?” Hardcase asks, incredulously. Feles, confused, pushes his way to Echo and clings to him tightly. “Ech’ika, it hurts, it hurts so much here, where are we, what’s going on?!” He wails, pushing his head into Echo’s neck. The silence is broken, and the brothers suddenly have been given a new task. Take care of the shiny._

_They lead Echo to Last Stop. Echo explains as best as he can to Feles. “This is the afterlife.” “I..you...dead..?” He whimpers out. “No, we’re just visiting, shhh, it’s ok, we’re not dead, I promise Fel’ika. Hey, you can meet my brothers now, vod’ika, how about that?” Feles seemed a little more excited then hurt by that, and nodded eagerly._

_“Well, first is Fives.” He points at him, and Feles looks at him intently. “Hey, kid.” Fives says with a wave and a grin. “Hi, Fives.” Feles replies, then pokes his finger through the hole in his chest, then smiles when he sees the tattoo. “Oh, it’s you! I’m glad you’re happy here, even though you’re dead.” Fives narrowed his brows in confusion. “Huh?” “I had a dream about you. You got shot and it hurt you and it hurt me too. You’re cool, it’s so cool Echo is your brother!”_

_Fives stops dead in his tracks, then points at Cutup, who’s chatting with Waxer. “How about them?” He shakes his head at Cutup, but nods at Waxer. They lead him through half of the dead GAR, and for everyone he says he didn’t see die, two others he did see appear. Captain Keeli asks if he saw Cut die, and he shakes his head. He asks if Master Ima Gun Di’s death was seen too, and he shakes his head._

_"I’ve only seen vode die.” He picked up on mando’a quick. His accent almost vanishes, then begins twisting into that twang most of the clones have, intoning his words like Fives did. In the afterlife, you are malleable. In the afterlife, you can finally, truly learn and adapt._

_Jesse and others laugh at the marks he got from Rex. “You fought well, vod’ika. Maybe we should get you some armor, match up against the Commander.” Vaughn says, lightly punching him in the shoulder like they would any vod._

_Feles looks at Dogma. “It wasn’t your fault. I feel a lot like you sometimes, like when Mierká lost her calf the day after I threw rocks near her. But it wasn’t my fault, just like it wasn’t your fault. I promise.” The miraculous happens, and crying is heard from the hoarse throat of the killer of Krell. He hugs Feles tight, and for the rest of the night, refuses to put him down. “He’s one of us” he says softly “he is a vod. Vode an, including him.”_ _  
_

_Feles looks around, and says simply “I think I was supposed to be one of you.”_


	3. Run

When Echo shoots awake in the morning, it’s to the shaking of a familiar hand. “Go away, Tech, I’m tryin’ to sleep.” “You may sleep when you don’t have an entire displeased village out looking for you and this local child.” Tech says flatly, dragging him out of the bunk. Echo was flailing as he was pulled out of the bed and accidentally grazed Tech’s chest in the process, which caused him to lock up and yank away. 

Echo realizes his mistake. “Te’ika, I’m sorry, it was an accident-” “I know it was, Echo, there is no need for an apology. There would be need for one if it had been intentional, but as it wasn’t, it is not required. Now please” Eparavur flies in the window and screeches, pushing his head into Tech’s shoulder after landing on his forearm “Get to the town while I go find the head of the search party.” 

Echo sighs and nods, and Tech nods curtly back, descending down the ladder quickly then vanishing into the woods, Eparavur flying above the treeline. He shakes Rex awake, the Commander reaching for the pistols on his hips almost immediately. Echo calms him down, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, ori’vod, hey, calm down. It’s gonna be alright, Rex.” 

Rex looks up at him. “What’s going on?” He spits on his hand, using it to wipe away the tear lines down his face. “We passed out here, and the kid’s village is scouring the woods, probably worried sick.” Rex grabs his helmet and puts it on, adjusting his holsters. “Isn’t he perfectly capable of surviving out here? He seemed fine, he got food, he cooked it, he’s wearing warm clothing, and he has shelter.” “Yeah, but you know nats are protective of their kids.” Echo says, leaning back, shrugs before crossing his arms. 

Rex threw Echo’s helmet at him, and he caught it with ease. “I’ll never get that. If the kid can defend, feed and clothe themselves they’ll be fine.” “Again, I know, but we’re a lot different than them.” Echo put his helmet on and stood at attention, twirling his DC-15 pistol before holstering it “Feles took somebody he doesn’t know overly well and a stranger out of supervised areas, had them teach him how to fight, and dragged them to this...thing here, so maybe nat kids aren’t as intuitive and risk aware.” Rex nods. “That would be a logical conclusion given the evidence.” 

Echo picks Feles up off the bed and slings him over his shoulder, chuckling. “Makes sense too, they don’t have to worry about firefights, battles, death and osik like that like we did.” Rex flicks the sleeping child’s nose affectionately. “Indeed. I think this one wouldn’t make it too far in training, looking at how heavily he’s sleeping.” Echo snorts. “Eh, he’s not much worse than Hevy.” His eyes flash with sorrow at the mention of his marched on brother, and he looks at the ground, dropping to it, forgoing the ladder, careful not to jostle Feles too much. 

Rex follows his example, and they start heading back to the town. “Standards must’ve fallen since my day.” “Back in my day-” Echo started, morphing his voice into the wizened tone they’d heard older males of many species speak in. Rex elbowed him hard in the side. “I’m five months older than you, Echo, to the decanting date.” Echo kicks the back of his knee and says “Oh, so old, and wise, compared to me, the young experimental Seppie chew toy that missed half the war.” 

Rex chuckles and bats him over the back of his head. “Hush, Fives isn’t here to cheer you on.” The statement was only tinged with the slightest bit of sorrow. “If he was, we would’ve already broken the universe by now.” Echo retorts, grinning. Rex jokingly shudders. “That’s a scary thought.” Echo huffs in mock indignation and speeds up, jogging towards the village. 

As soon as they enter the town square, a crowd snatches Feles away and surrounds them. “What did you do?” Snarled a tall female, looking him over. “He’s bruised and mussed and everything.” Rex blinked. “He asked us to teach him how to throw a punch, ma’am.” “And you did it?!?” She screeched angrily, and Rex flinched away, eyes cast down. 

A male with a deep, venom laden voice approached. Rex cowered more at his voice tone. “Why did you do this? You come to our home, and take our children’s innocence when they ask on whims.” Rex’s breathing got heavier and louder, hands at his sides. “I’m sorry, sir, it won’t happen again, General.” The crowd hushed, and so did Echo, although Echo had heard recordings of Krell’s voice and knew his ori’vod was having a panic response to the tone. 

“General? What do you mean, General?” The male huffed. “I am no soldier. Have you lost your mind?” “No, sir. I have not, sir. I am at full mental capacity, sir.” Rex has a more desperate tone, eyes dancing with the thoughts of reconditioning chambers, retraining pods, and decommissioning. Echo stepped in. “Hannula, back off. You aren’t helping. We didn’t hurt him, and we all had fun.” He crosses his arms and shields Rex unconsciously by stepping in front of him. “We’re sorry, we didn’t realize we shouldn’t have done that, where we come from he would’ve already been learning how to handle blasters.” 

The crowd was silent again, as they had started up in a low hum. Tech shoved his way into the front, Eparavur circling above them all. “I can give you a lesson on mental trauma and the Umbara siege and more later, but at this moment in time, Commander Rex is having a panic attack and needs some space.” He pushes up his goggles, and grabs Rex’s wrist. “If you excuse us, we have to help Áidná with farming. Feles is completely fine, and I am ready to set records straight.” 

He drags him away, and when the female tries to grab at Tech, Echo reaches out and grabs her wrist, saying coldly. “Touch him, and all hells will break loose. We’re trained soldiers, don’t try it,  _ ma’am _ .” She huffed, and spun on her heel, going to comfort Feles when he woke up. 

They ran down the path back to Áidná’s home. They’d heard even these hardy nats complain about the distance on foot, but it hardly was the worst compared to some of the long marches Rex remembers. Tech lets go of him once they’re around a klick out. “I apologize for dragging you, Commander, I merely felt you needed to be evacuated from the situation and did the first logical thing that came to mind as a method of removal.” Rex smiled at him, and put a hand on his shoulder. Tech froze up for a second, and Rex removed the hand.

“I’m sorry, and it’s alright Tech.” He said, a concerned look on his face. Echo looked over his younger brother, who took off his gloves and started biting his nails as they walked, teeth hooking under the nails, grinding through the keratin and pulling the strips that came loose away. “Tech, are you alright?” Echo asked. Tech ground the keratin between his teeth and swallowed, his hands twitching. “I am alright. Merely somewhat nervous because of the environment I just came from, I will be perfectly fine within a few minutes.” He says, running a hand through his hair, recently cropped back down to his skull. 

Echo nods slowly. “You ok with being touched, Te’ika?” “Absolutely not, Echo.” Something catches his eye, and he turns to the other too and excitedly points to the machine. “Look, it’s a harvester! The gears are the size of Wrecker, and the bucket could pick up the Havoc Marauder.” Echo snorts. “Yeah, I liked the Marauder. Too bad Crosshair and Wrecker got it trashed.” “The Imperishable is a lovely craft though, Echo. She’s certainly big enough for all of us to live comfortably.”

Echo snorted. “I know, haran, I like the space and ladder system and everything in the Imperishable a lot.” Tech nods, then sees a tree, and immediately starts spouting off about the species, continuing on and on. Rex shares a look with Echo and chuckles. “Remind you of anyone, vod’ika?” Echo snorts and shakes his head. “Tech can’t help it. He’s got something a little different in his brain, it was a side effect of his mutation.” “Like Hardcase?” “Not exactly, but yeah, similar crossed wires.” 

Rex looked over at Tech. “Well, that explains a lot.” Echo smiles a little. “Yeah, it does. He’s a good soldier, and a good little vod’ika.” The two chuckle, and Rex takes his helmet off, tucking it under his arm. “I know he is. He was the only one not to have something to say about you, you know. Crosshair said he would’ve left you for dead in that scenario too.” “Did you punch him?” “Elek, vod’ika.” “Yep, figured. He’s like that. But he was taught like that, so he can’t help it much.” 

He gestures off into the distance, and taps his head, tilting it to the side. “He’s on the defensive, hurting others and driving them away before they can hurt him.” Echo sighs, and pulls Rex’s forehead to his in a keldabe after pulling off his own helmet. “Please, be patient with him.” Rex raises an eyebrow. “Do I look like I have any other options?” “You could run away from here and refuse to talk to him.” Echo taps his bracer in a familiar pattern. “Don’t tempt me.” Tech picks up on the rhythm and almost unconsciously joins in. 

Rex starts tapping too, and they fall into line instinctively. Tech begins humming, and not long after that, singing. His voice was deeper when he sang, and he pronounced all the words better then either Rex or Echo had ever managed to, so they just hummed in the background to add that sense of music.  “Kote!” He belted out, lifting his knees up high. “Kandosii sa ka’rta” the other two joined him after a second thought “vode an!” They continued until the end of the song, steps high and in pace with the march. Once they were done, Rex singing the last vode an with tears welling in his eyes, Tech stopped in his tracks. “Commander, your pronunciation is excellent.” He started walking backwards, taking off his helmet and fiddling with it. “Thanks, Tech.” Rex says, making his way back to the cabin. 

Crosshair met them on the road not ten minutes later. “Hunter says you should get back. You’ll be gutted if you don’t.” “Did he threaten to gut us?” Rex asks, unimpressed. “No, I did, reg.” He falls into the line, holding his rifle against his shoulder. Echo, to Rex’s shock, tries to pull him into a keldabe but fails, as Crosshair shoves him off. “Quit touching me, reg.” Rex tenses, but Echo remains nonchalant. “Nah.” He puts a hand on Crosshair’s shoulder. He sighs, but Tech and Rex share a look as the silver haired clone leans into the touch, unconsciously or not. 

Echo grins and mouths  _ ‘success’ _ back at them. They walk in silence, until Tech starts talking, wanting to fill the space. “Weedik are a species native to Dorin. They have canid bodies with thick tails and four sturdy legs with wide feet.” Crosshair had pressed himself further into the hand. “They have equid faces and heads with four cream colored eyes that are engineered by nature specifically to be excellent at depth perception.” Echo rubs Crosshair’s shoulder gently, shaking his head at how tense it was. “They have long, crinkled ears and a wavelike sensory organ on their necks.” Crosshair closed his eyes halfway, continuing to walk without issues but enjoying this. 

They arrived at the home, and while Tech went on ahead to the room they shared, talking to himself about the riding mount species, Echo led Crosshair to the couch he often sat on in the living room. Rex halted, but then continued on to the room with Tech, nodding along to his ramblings. 

Echo slowly lifted a hand from his shoulder to his head, and started rubbing circles into the sniper’s skull. Crosshair let out a long, pained whine, and started sobbing into his grasp, body tensed for a strike. Echo didn’t know what had happened to him for a vod to be like this, to be so scared of touch, and to be so starved of it. He knew full well that even the nights where he slept with all the others he sat sleeping up on Wrecker or the foot of the bed, which was hardly touching. He realized that the most touch he’d gotten from anyone in a long time was his fight with Wrecker a few days ago. 

Echo held the sniper close and continued to rub his shoulders gently. He vowed to find who’d done this, who’d made him like this, his genetics still changed from the donor, even if mutated, to desire touch and companionship from his brothers. And oh, when he found them, he was going to rip them limb from limb. 

**************************************

The next morning, Echo woke up tangled in the long limbs of the lean, scarred, silver haired sniper. Crosshair was breathing evenly, head buried into Echo’s neck, and very much so asleep. This was the most relaxed he’d ever seen Crosshair, and he gently curled around him some, humming a nat song he’d heard once under his breath.    
  
The sniper snapped awake barely five minutes later, and shoved Echo away from him. “Get off me, reg.” “You were on me.” “Technicalities are Tech’s thing.” He snarls, grabbing his rifle, and storming off, but Echo follows after him closely. “Are you alright, Crosshair?” “Back. Off.” “No, not when you clearly need help. Why’d you flinch away? Why do you shut us out-” Echo’s voice was cut off when Crosshair slammed him into a wall, getting up in his face, the fear, the fight or flight instincts warring, dancing in his eyes giving away that his angered expression may not be what it seems on the surface. 

“I said” he bares his teeth “back off.” Echo meets his eyes, remembering Fives denying he was hurt, that he was sick, that he hadn’t slept in five days because of nightmares, and he metaphorically digs his feet into the ground. “No.” Crosshair recoils slightly, and drags Echo outside by the wrists.    
  
Crosshair swings a blow at him out in the front yard. Echo dodges it. “Fight me, reg.” “I’m not going to hurt you.” Another blow, this one catching him in the ribs. His ARC training kicks in and he punches Crosshair in the face, catching him over his scarred eye.. The sniper touches the mark, and Echo watches as an expression that was an impossible combination of fear, need for affection met, satisfaction and anger dances across his face.    
  
He attacks Echo, throwing blow after blow at him, bruises blossoming on both their bodies. “You like the pain, don’t you?” Echo snarls, heads pressed together in a headlock. “This is the only way you were shown any sort of attention, wasn’t it?” Crosshair pulls his head back enough to headbutt him hard, causing him to cry out and hold his now aching forehead.    
  
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, reg.” “Echo, Cross’ika, my name is-” “Don’t call me that!” He snarls, kicking Echo’s legs out from under him, then kicking him in the side once he was down. Echo knocked him to the ground, pinning down his limbs with his own body. Blood pulsed in their ears as they stared into each other’s eyes, anger, fear and a sick, sick look of enjoyment of the pain in Crosshair’s, Echo’s shining with concern and affection.    
  
“Could you calm down now?” He asks calmly, leaning back some. Crosshair bares his teeth, and yanks an arm free. “Over my dead body.” “I’d rather not kill you, vod’ika.” “Coward, I deserve it for being so weak.” He spits out, defenses lowered by the fight and the high running emotions circling through the charged air.    
  
Echo recoiled. “You aren’t weak, you’re stronger than half the vode I know.” “Liar.” Crosshair stopped fighting, body going limp under him. “I’m not lying.” He hauls him to his feet, and hugs him gently. Crosshair presses his head into Echo’s shoulder. “I don’t know why you are being so….disgustingly gentle. I won’t break.” He mutters under his breath. Echo runs a hand through his hair, which is already growing out, framing his high cheekbones with the slightly wavy silver. “Crosshair” he very gently grabs his chin and gets him to look at him “You’re already broken, if you think that being beaten to haran and back is affection.” 

“It isn’t, but it’s the only touch I karking deserve.” “No, it’s not, and I will pull a Kix if you don’t cut the banthaosik.” He throws the sniper over his shoulder, and he struggles, but Echo knows how to restrain people. “You are a good person.” “I’m a shebs’se.” “You don’t have to be one.” “I threw knives at Tech and was a kad to Rex.” “Then don’t do that anymore.” “It’s all I know.” Echo rolls his eyes. “You’re a bit more open then normal.”    
  
“I don’t have anything to hide from you, since you were a pushy mir’shebs.” Crosshair gets in a shin kick to Echo’s ribs. Echo lets him, and walks off the nails that raked down his back. “Stop fighting like a feral tooka and be a good kitty.” That shut Crosshair right up, and Echo entered the doorway, Áidná staring at him like he grew another head.    
  
“What?” He asks, throwing Crosshair onto the couch. "I need to help him.” “He’s letting you do that?” “Oh, no, I have blood from his nails running down my back at the moment.” He answered the older woman nonchalantly, sitting on Crosshair. The silver haired sniper just grumbled and allowed it, not really wanting to fight more.    
  
“Shouldn’t have fought an ARC, Cross’ika.” He growled at the name. “I am a Commando.” “Good for you.” Echo says, crossing his arms and running a hand through his hair. “We’re going to talk about your feelings now.” He had a flashback to saying the same blunt thing to Fives, holding him close, listening to what he had to say.    
  
Crosshair lets out a noise of disgust. “How about we  _ not _ talk about my feelings, reg?” Echo stroked a nonexistent beard in faux thoughtfulness, before continuing his affectionate head petting. “I’ve considered it, and we are going to talk about them, sorry.” Crosshair gave him a frustrated look. “Fine, if it gets you off my haar’chak back.” “I’m on your legs, not your back.” “Shut the shabla haran up, you di’shebs.” “I think mir’shebs is a better word.” “I  _ said  _ shut up.”    
  
*************************

It was a few days later, and Echo still was processing the flood of information Crosshair had dumped on him. It….had been a lot, but he was glad that the sniper had been honest. Even if he’d been difficult the whole time, refused to acknowledge any weakness, and clearly censored some of it, it still explained it all.    
  
Well, most of it, but he couldn’t be that hopeful. Áidná was out in the fields, and Feles had snuck over to her home to play with Rex and Echo. He’d quickly found a friend in Tech, who was eager to answer all his questions.    
  
“Why do you wear goggles?” Feles asks, sitting at Tech’s feet as he draws up some plans on a high stump outside. “They’re not goggles, they’re corrective eyewear.” Tech says, looking down at him. “What does that mean?” “It means I couldn’t see well so I had to obtain something to function as a guide for light to hit my retinas correctly.” “Ah, ok. What do you do?” “Build things, do important calculations and blast droids.”    
  
“What does blast mean?” “Shoot them.” “With a blaster?” “Precisely.” Echo grins as he watches Tech navigate around with his little shadow in tow. Feles respectfully keeps his distance. “You look younger than them.” “I am.” “How old are you?” “Eleven, biological age twenty two.” “Whoa, cool, what are you?” “A clone.” “What species are you though?” “Human.” “Cool! Humans are cool. “ Feles says, scrabbles up a stump to be on eye level with Tech.    
  
“Every species certainly has it’s interesting features.” Tech agrees, nodding his head, and hopping onto the stump, sitting next to him. Echo grins to himself, and then to Rex. Tech was now showing Feles the visor on his helmet and its functions, and the child was enamoured by him and his gadgets.    
  
Rex was observing them too, and came over to stand next to Echo, brushing his hand over his forehead and getting a streak of dirt on it from where he’d been planting flowers in the garden for Áidná. “They’re a pair, eh?” He nudges Echo in the side, and the receiver of his elbow snorts. “Yeah, ori’vod. I don’t think he’s taken his eyes on him for more than three seconds for twenty minutes.” Rex leans on his side, and puts his head on his shoulder. “‘Lek, Ech’ika. The little one is almost a kih’vod by this point.” He chuckles.    
  
Echo smiles. “I think he is a vod already, look at him, he’s already got a Republic cog on him.” Rex casts a glance his way, and he sees the vaguely cog shaped mark on his forehead, shaking his head. “You just had to point that out, didn’t you? Now I’m never going to unsee it.” Echo taps a finger against his forehead and grins. “ARC training involves pattern recognition, or did you already forget that?” Rex shoves him, and Echo shoves back, the two getting into a playful tussle.    
  
Rex jabbed a knee into his ribs, and he got the Commander into a headlock, before being flipped over Rex’s back and slammed into the ground. He got up, and punched him in the gut. Rex doubled over but straightened up quickly, spinning out of the range of the kick launched his way with an almost Jedilike move. Echo pants and ducks under the leg launched his way, before grabbing it, twisting up, causing Rex to lose his balance and be open for the punch Echo landed on his nose, drawing his fist back after he heard the yelp of pain from the Commander, who huffs and raises his hands.    
  
“Alright, I yield, vod’ika.” He says, looking at Echo, some blood dripping from his nose. Echo leans on his shoulder and gives him a keldabe. “Finally, the student outclasses the master.” “Not yet, young Padawan.” He says teasingly. “Do I look like a Padawan to you?” “‘Lek, just get one of those nerf tails and a braid and you’ll be all set-” “Shut up, ori’vod.” He says with a chuckle. 

The sky starts to swirl with grey and it lights up with lightning in the distance. Feles casts a glance around, and pulls on Rex’s sleeve after hopping off the stump. “Ori’vod, it feels bad.” Rex looks down to him from where he was nursing his nose. “What do you mean, Fel’ika?” He ruffles his hair affectionately. “I mean, something is coming. And it’s bad. I have a bad feeling about this.” He stomps his foot on the ground, dust pooled around his foot. “I know I’m not wrong, everyone always says I can’t know things like that but  _ I’m not wrong _ .”    
  
Rex, who knew Jedi very well and stood against the Sith a few times, nods. ‘I believe you. What does it feel like?” Feles thinks and focuses, before recoiling in revulsion. “Dark….slimy...like a cave with an evil troll.” Rex looks alarmed. “Is this a person?” “Yeah, it is, ori’vod.” He hugs Rex’s leg, looking up with a scared expression. “They want something here, and it’s not good.” A ship breaches the atmosphere, and Rex nods. “Run, into the Imperishable, Feles.” Feles nods and goes to do that, taking the things he brought with him.    
  
Rex sounds the alarm, and the Bad Batch’s heads yank up, and weapons are grabbed. Crosshair ran to the edge of the forest, moving silently, pulling himself up into a tree. He set up his sniping kit with extreme efficiency, and he leaned back, sharp eyes keeping watch.    
  
Tech ran to the edge of the woods too, laying out elaborate vibronet traps, typing quickly into the computer terminal attached to his wrist, visor lowered and code scrolling at sickening speed across it, until he was satisfied with his job, nodded, pulled his DC-17 hand blasters out and settled behind a tree, the cameras he set up not long after arriving feeding into his visor. He watched the footage with hawk like eyes, giving commands to Eparavur who circled overhead like an omen of death and the destruction to come, metal wings slicing the air like fruit.    
  
Wrecker set himself up with his Interchangeable in his hands and braced against a large tree next to a pile of logs halfway through the woods, muttering something about how all this waiting and skulking was boring before Hunter, who was perched on the pile of logs, legs extended behind and to the side of him as he inhaled deeply, gave him a pointed look. The sergeant pushed back a stray hair, brandishing a vibroblade in one hand and his blaster in the other, every last nerve and cell in his body humming with adrenaline and instincts as he bared his sharpened fangs slightly.    
  
Rex set himself up near the door after Áidná had grabbed her own weapon, a large electroquarterstaff, and Rex was going to question how she got that before she smiled mysteriously and shook her head. He just sighed and double checked the cartridge in one of his blasters, murmuring something about nats and their strange ways.    
  
Echo had moved to a position near the ship, holding a blaster that Tech had made for him, and he welcomed the heavy weight being in his hands again, staring down the scope. His cybernetic limbs let out a small hum of electricity, and his organic parts thrum with adrenaline as the blood pounds in his ears.   
  
And then they wait.   
  
They don’t have to wait long.    
  
The ship lands in a clearing just as the storm’s hailing winds start up. The ramp lowers, and a grey nautolan female descends it. Her face is covered with a mask, geometric patterns across it. She stands still. The wind blows her headtails and her long skirt, the black of the outfit that covers her whole body loose. Her cloak extends behind her too, blowing around while she lifts a circular object, and Crosshair stares as a pair of red lightsaber blades appears. He lifts his com to his mouth.    
  
“Hey, so, we have a problem, gentlemen and Wrecker.” She walks her way across the field at a measured, slow, deliberate pace. “It’s a Sith.” Groans came out from the entire line, Rex swearing with the name of Ventress, and Hunter calling for quiet. She continues coming to the woods.    
  
She seemed almost entranced as she walked in a straight line to her goal. Crosshair launched a blaster bolt, aiming carefully. She deflects it almost carelessly, not seeming to care where it came from. She slips into the woods, skirt and cloak dragging on the brush covered floor but she continues on.    
  
She dodges the nets easily, long limbs walking over trips with ease. Tech and Crosshair run silently to keep ahead of her, making it to the pile of logs where Hunter and Wrecker are just before she does, spinning on their heels and opening up fire on her.    
  
She dodges the hellfire of bolts launched at her, and deflects the rest, but is seemingly untrained and gets tired quickly. The Bad Batch launch themselves at her, and Tech screeches as a lightsaber gashes his arm, but the others tackle her, Hunter making the killing blow with his vibroblade, sinking it into her skull.    
  
The nautolan’s headtails give a limp twitch, then she is no more, body falling to the forest floor with as little decorum as a tree. It is silent for a second, but then Tech hisses. “Could someone please take care of the corpse before it starts decomposition? The smell is horrendous and Áidná will not appreciate the smell of dead fish in her forest once the bacteria begins breaking down the body.” He holds his arm to himself, favoring the area where it was burned.    
  
Crosshair and Hunter turn to look at Wrecker, who grumbles and carries the body to a nearby ditch, complaining about how he was always the one to do this and it wasn’t fair. Tech lifted his uninjured arm to his mouth, activating the com. “We should leave the planet, Commander.” He spoke to Rex, lips quivering with pain. “Affirmative, Tech. There’s no telling what a Sith wanted here, but I’d give a guess to wanting us.”    
  
“Actually” Crosshair drawled, leaning close to Tech and putting bacta patches on his skin after using his knife to cut away the blacks “I’d give a bigger guess to them wanting that native kid, reg.” “And why is that, Cross’ika?” Echo chimed in, and Crosshair’s eye twitched as he snarled “Because the kid is Force sensitive, and Sith are kinda known for that sort of thing.” “You have a point. Alright, we’ll get the kid ready and grab our stuff from Áidná.” “Understood, Commander.” Tech murmured with a grimace.    
  
  
********************************   
  
_ A few weeks passed, and they lurked in space, ignoring calls from all sources. Feles was confused, and Tech was scarred.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ They had to formulate a plan.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ And they did.  _ _   
_ _   
_ _ Save as many vode as possible.  _ _   
_ _   
_ __ And take down the new Empire. 

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment if you want, they feed the motivation beast :)


End file.
